The Magicals of Kernow

By Ken Metcalfe

Having evolved to live in the natural world, magical creatures become trapped when their gateways to safety are destroyed. To ensure their survival, they become overly secretive and keep their numbers to a bare minimum. Their last refuge is in Kernow, where they live in isolated woodlands.

Blackwort, the greedy goblin leader, becomes increasingly frustrated at having to live on meager rations and has ambitions to take over all the woodlands in Kernow. Sadly for the peaceful fairies in the adjacent wood, this places them in a perilous position. Trouble is brewing for Tilly Watercress and her fairy family.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris UK
• Release date: Sep 27, 2018
• ISBN: 9781543489057

Ken Metcalfe

Ken Metcalfe was born in 1945 in Lancashire and for most of his life worked in the engineering industry. He lives in Cornwall with his wife Val and they have four children and twelve grandchildren and will celebrate their golden wedding anniversary this year. Ken prefers the outdoor life and includes walking, gardening and playing golf in his recreational activities. When not outdoors, he thoroughly enjoys cooking and is always looking for new recipes. Although he started late in life, writing is now his new passion and is something he believes he will do for the rest of his life.

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Copyright © 2018 by Ken Metcalfe.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2018911484

ISBN:                Hardcover              978-1-5434-8907-1

                          Softcover               978-1-5434-8906-4

                          eBook                     978-1-5434-8905-7

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 09/26/2018

Xlibris

800-056-3182

www.Xlibrispublishing.co.uk

775224

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Chapter 1    The Killing

Chapter 2    The Gathering

Chapter 3    Summer

Chapter 4    The Move to Polquite Wood

Chapter 5    Blackwort’s Revenge

Chapter 6    The Happening

Have you acted on a thought that came into your mind and, therefore, kept out of trouble? Did you attribute it to coincidence

or perhaps your conscience? Could it be something else?

Have you read a book with some unbelievable content or

been told an unbelievable story that has been passed down

through your family and assumed every part of that story is

fiction? Could there be some factual basis to the story?

Have you experienced something that you can’t explain and

resisted telling anyone about it for fear of being thought of as

slightly unhinged? Then fear no more. You are not alone.

And this book is

dedicated to you.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I was sixty-eight years old when I decided to write my first book, and at that time, I certainly had no intention of publishing my work. I simply wrote a story that I couldn’t get out of my mind and certainly enjoyed the process. It was only when I showed the manuscript to my second daughter, Willa, that I received any indication that the book was good enough to publish. Without her encouragement, I would have never set out on my journey and found such enjoyment in writing, so my heartfelt thanks go to Willa.

During the production of The Magicals of Kernow, which is my third published book, I received lots of support from my wife, my children, and my grandchildren. Without their interest in my writing, I do not think I would have persevered.

My close friend John Harbinson, a retired headmaster, has been a source of encouragement with his proofreading. His support has been particularly helpful in the publication of this book.

INTRODUCTION

Beautiful and mysterious, the earth was once a three-dimensional planet, having a spirit world, a natural world, and a magical world. The earth was teeming with life, and as the creatures inhabiting the planet evolved, those living in the magical world soon found a way to move from their own world to the natural world. A variety of fabulous creatures regularly crossed the dimension and explored what the natural world had to offer. This led them into contact with dangerous creatures, the most dangerous of all being the intelligent humans, who were skilled hunters and enjoyed hunting anything—even for fun.

Among those creatures that regularly crossed the dimension were dragons, fairies, pixies, elves, unicorns, and giants. If left alone, these peaceful beings would not harm anyone. Unfortunately, some of the magicals that made the crossing were unpleasant and detested, even in their own dimension. Among these creatures were goblins, black water nymphs, and trolls. All of them caused problems wherever they were. Being wary of predators, none of the visitors settled permanently in the natural world. And whenever there was danger, they returned quickly to their own dimension by using a magical gateway.

Many of the gateways were found in the extremities of modern-day Europe, in particular on the island of Britain, where they were marked by the planting of stone circles or obelisks. The first magical creatures to make the crossing to the natural world were the fairies, and to ensure they could easily find their way back, they needed permanent markers showing the location of the gateways. As the giants were the only creatures big enough or strong enough to erect the permanent stone markers, the fairies asked for their help. After centuries of hard work, the amiable giants completed the task. The gateways were constructed to be visible in both worlds, but only magicals had the ability to use them.

Thousands of years later, the earth suffered a near collision with an asteroid, causing the structure of the dimensions to change forever. The magnetic force created by the asteroid temporarily shifted the earth’s centre of gravity, resulting in the destruction of many gateways to the magical world. When the near collision occurred, those magicals visiting the natural world became stranded and could find no way back. Unfortunately for them, there were few places of safety in the natural world and the visitors had to adapt to their permanent surroundings quickly. They needed to find a safe place to survive, and that meant keeping their distance from the most dangerous creatures in the natural world—the humans. Most of the magicals headed for the vast forests, which had many hiding places, and they eventually acclimatised to survive safely in their adopted home. The variety of trees that grew in the forests provided them with abundant food, and because of the bounty produced by the woodlands, the few remaining magicals lived in relative peace and safety.

Unfortunately, as the human population spread out from the villages, they gradually used more resources from the forests, and the landscape began to change. To satiate their appetite for animal flesh, the humans began clearing large wooded areas to provide more land for farming; they were responsible for the eventual deforestation of Britain. This devastation led to the extinction of many creatures, including most of the magicals. To ensure their continued existence, the few surviving magical groups became overly secretive and used camouflage and other distractions to prevent the humans from finding them.

Eventually, they moved to small isolated areas of woodland, and as the centuries passed by, they were considered to be no more